Sudan Gurung, who played a key role in bringing Rabi Lamichhane, Balen Shah, and Kulman Ghising together, has announced his candidacy for the election scheduled for March 5. However, he has not disclosed which party he will represent or which election symbol he will use.
While two of his close associates – Ojaswi Thapa and James Karki – have already become central members of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), Gurung has maintained a deliberate distance from the party.
Gurung, the founder of the Hami Nepal campaign, is one of the prominent figures to emerge from the Gen Z movement of September 8 and 9. Instead of joining the RSP, he has remained active by declaring a separate “civilian force.”
When Setopati asked him why he has not aligned himself with the RSP, Gurung did not give a clear answer.
“It’s not about not joining the RSP, but there is also a civilian force,” Gurung said. “We work as a watchdog over the government. Now, however, we want to go to Parliament and raise citizens’ voices. I am someone who fought for change. I will go to Parliament and put forward my views permanently.”
He said that he has not yet decided which party he will join, even though he met Balen Shah, the RSP’s prime ministerial candidate, on Thursday.
When asked whether Shah asked him to contest the election from the RSP, Gurung said that no such discussion took place.
“I spoke with Balen ji about the demands of Gen Z, not about contesting the election,” Gurung said. “I asked how the RSP would endorse the demands of Gen Z. We also discussed the issue of the president signing the agreement with Gen Z.”
Gurung said that he has never stopped his close associates from joining political parties.
“If someone says they want to go, I tell them to go,” he said.
He also responded to speculation that he stayed away from the RSP because he failed to become an office-bearer within the party.
“It’s not because I didn’t get the office-bearer’s position that I did not join,” Gurung said. “Even if you contest from a party, the maximum outcome is becoming a minister. I am someone who has already given up a ministerial post. I am not someone who is tempted by positions in the RSP.”
He emphasized that positions should be taken as responsibilities.
“Only after understanding that it’s responsibility, not position, should one decide whether to join or not,” he said. “If people truly understood the responsibilities of being a home minister—the agencies and departments involved, the number of meetings—many wouldn’t even want to become ministers.”
Gurung said that he announced his candidacy on social media due to pressure from friends to contest the election.
“I hadn’t decided at all,” he said. “Friends had been asking what I was going to do. Following pressure from friends, I felt I had to take responsibility. As someone who has been active on the ground, I felt I should raise voices in Parliament.”
He added that he is now ready to take responsibility for the country.
“Party responsibility and national responsibility are different,” Gurung said. “One is open to working for the responsibility of the nation.”
